French sportswear retailer Decathlon recorded a turnover of EUR 112 million last year, up by 60% compared to 2014, said Eric Mazillier, general manager of Decathlon Romania.

The company opened four stores in 2015, reaching a network of 17 units. Four of them are located in Bucharest.

The most recent one is in the Baneasa area, in the north of Bucharest. The unit covers 3,900 sqm and has 70 employees.

Decathlon also opened stores in Oradea, Targu Jiu, and Targu Mures last year. The company’s stores cover surfaces between 1,000 and 5,000 sqm.

In the recent years, the prices of the products sold by Decathlon have dropped by up to 20%, Mazillier said, cited by local Profit.ro. Decathlon has been able to cut prices as it has its own research centers where over 600 engineers develop private level products, which are then manufactured by partners in various countries.

The French group also works with Romanian producers. Last year, Romanian companies made 400,000 bikes, 150,000 bike accessories, 500,000 clothing articles, and 300,000 footwear articles for Decathlon.

editor@romania-insider.com